Admiral Bauer: In addition to the well-known Article 5, there is another important article in NATO

“When plans are agreed, basically we all expect member countries to implement what they agreed to. (…) It is very important for the countries to understand that everyone must contribute to the collective defense in order for it to work”, the admiral emphasized while talking to Lithuanian journalists in Brussels on Thursday.

According to him, these obligations are formed from personnel development and improvement, equipment purchases, investments in infrastructure, military mobility.

“In most cases, it is still very difficult to transport military equipment and ammunition across Europe, and we want to be able to transport ammunition in times of crisis as easily as we transport food in Europe.” For this, it is important to work together with NATO and the EU”, explained R. Bauer.

According to the Chairman of the Alliance Committee, NATO “has been a 911 organization for a long time.”

“In terms of collective defence, we would call headquarters to say there was a problem and then expect a NATO response force to arrive as quickly as possible on the scene. In other words, you have a problem and someone else comes to save you,” said the admiral.

However, now, as emphasized by R. Bauer, there is a consensus that it is impossible for the organization to continue operating in this way.

“We don’t just have Article 5, which a lot of people know. (…) Article 5 is actually preceded by Article 3. This article says it all starts with a country’s ability to protect its people. Many countries have forgotten about this due to budget cuts for crisis response. So, in response to what the Russians have done, there is now a reorientation towards collective defence,” explained the Chairman of the NATO Military Committee.

Speaking to Lithuanian journalists, the admiral also emphasized the importance of preparing to respond quickly to threats.

“If Putin decides to attack NATO, he will not call us asking if we agree if he attacks us next month. That would be nice, but the chances of him doing so are slim. Therefore, we must be ready to respond on the same day.

That means we have to have more forces ready to go. The countries have to work on this issue – to ensure that there are enough soldiers who are armed and trained,” emphasized R. Bauer.

Threats are not only on the eastern flank

During his visit to Brussels on Thursday, the chairman of NATO’s Military Committee, Admiral Lithuanians, also spoke about the fact that threats to the alliance do not only arise on the eastern flank, but that the bloc closely monitors geographically sensitive areas.

“The ambitions of the Baltic countries (for NATO defense plans – aut.p.) are the same as those of any other country. It is important to say that the threats are not only in the eastern flank – there are threats in the north, west and south. We are now very focused on the eastern flank because Russia attacked Ukraine, but Russia is essentially everywhere around us – in space, cyberspace, the Arctic, the Atlantic Ocean, the Mediterranean region, Africa,” said R. Bauer.

If all the efforts and focus of the alliance were directed only to the eastern part of the bloc, then, as the chairman of the committee explained, NATO simply would not be able to adequately protect its other territories and respond to challenges there.

Admiral – about arming: first of all, the importance of this must be understood by the public

R. Bauer also talked about NATO’s decision to expand its forces from battalions to brigade size, because, according to him, it clearly demonstrates to Russia that the alliance is closely monitoring what is happening in Ukraine and is flexible.

“We saw at least four months ago that war was coming – we saw the build-up of forces. So, it’s not realistic that you’ll open your curtains one day and see enemy troops through your window – that’s an unrealistic scenario. With the help of intelligence, we would know this in advance,” said the head of the committee.

However, he emphasized that the alliance closely monitors the situation in geographically sensitive areas, such as the Suwalki corridor and others.

“After Vilnius, the next phase will begin, when the implementation of what the countries have committed to and what the leaders have decided will be the most important,” emphasized R. Bauer.

The admiral also explained that the development of the capabilities of the defense industry is also a very important discussion, which must also be supported by investors.

“If that decision is made and money is found, which is sometimes difficult because there are big investors, like pension funds, where people say it’s unethical to invest in the defense industry.” (…) It takes time to convince people who have money. This cannot be done overnight,” said the chairman of the committee.

Therefore, according to him, working towards this goal requires the efforts of all levels of government: not only the ministers of defense or foreign affairs, but also members of governments in other areas.

“You need to wake up. We have been talking about production volumes for 18 months now. It takes time to tighten things up to make them work. We can compare the situation to covid, where governments had to convince the private sector to produce more masks and ventilators.

It worked. Why? Because the public pressure was greater. We all had covid, everyone knew what we were talking about. If I said I needed a warehouse full of ammo, a lot of people would ask why we should do that. I could explain, but it won’t necessarily convince those people, unless their country is actually at war,” observed R. Bauer.

Therefore, as the admiral emphasized once again, it is very important that the essential priorities of NATO are well understood by the public.

“They need to understand that this affects all of us, that it’s not going to go away very soon.” Our societies will feel the impact of this war for at least, I think, ten years. At least,” added the admiral.